You are here

Press Releases

Browse all of our press releases or use the filters below to filter by the countries, issues, and industries of your choice. You can select multiple items in each filter by holding the Ctrl/Command or Shift keys while selecting the items of your choice; selecting an item under one filter will cause the other filters to adjust to only show items that match your existing selections.

International coalition finds audit “troubling” and calls for improvements to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil system and for FELDA customers and financiers to independently investigate forced labor and human trafficking

11/06/15

San Francisco, CA – In the wake of serious reports of modern day slavery, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)––the palm oil industry certification system––recently released an audit report assessing compliance for three estates of RSPO-member, and Malaysian palm oil giant, FELDA. The audit found several major issues with FELDA operations, which would put the palm oil grower in non-compliance with the RSPO standard, resulting in a “fundamental failure to achieve the objective of the relevant RSPO requirements.”

Today, October 29, human rights defender Dmitry Tihonov returned to his home to find the office in his home burned down, the door sealed, and property stolen from rooms untouched by the fire. Mr. Tihonov had been staying with friends since the police in Angren brought disorderly conduct charges against him on October 20. The trumped up charges, which carry a fine or up to 15 days in detention, and fire, which has all signs of intentionality, have forced Mr.

H&M is dramatically behind schedule in correcting the dangers faced by the Bangladeshi workers who produce its clothing, according to a report published today by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN), and Worker Rights Consortium (WRC).

NBIM urged to exclude Daewoo International for profiting from forced labor

07/14/15

Six months after receiving a complaint that Norges Bank Investment Management’s holdings of Daewoo International supports forced labor, Norway’s National Contact Point (NCP) for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) decided to close the complaint without further examination.

The International Labor Rights Forum is thrilled to announce that two years of campaigning, with over one million people participating, has succeeded in securing $30 million in compensation for the victims of the Rana Plaza building collapse – the deadliest disaster in the history of the global garment industry.

Seventy-two workers, many of whom were women, were burned to death and 20 more are still missing in the biggest factory fire that hit the Philippines – the fire that gutted the factory of Kentex Manufacturing Incorporated last May 13, 2015. The company, located along Tatalon Street in Barangay Ugong in Valenzuela City, manufactures rubber slippers for sale and distribution in various parts of the Philippines.

New report highlights how the cotton harvest fosters modern day slavery and extortion

04/13/15

In 2014, the government of Uzbekistan forced more than a million of its own citizens to pick cotton, and officials extorted individuals and businesses, including multinational companies, at a larger scale as part of the annual Uzbek cotton harvest, according to a new report released by the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights (UGF).

Action calls into question Tashkent's commitment to international labor rights

03/24/15

(Moscow, March 24, 2015)- The arrest and expulsion from Uzbekistan of an international labor rights expert raises serious concerns about the government of Uzbekistan’s commitment to international human rights conventions and the feasibility of the World Bank’s agricultural programs in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan operates what is perhaps the world’s largest state-organized system of forced labor, forcibly mobilizing more than a million of the country’s citizens to pick cotton each fall.

Campaigners are calling for compensation to victims of the world's worst ever garment factory disaster as an Avaaz petition, demanding that Italian fashion giant Benetton finally pay compensation to the victims of Rana Plaza, is set to top one million signers.The petition adds to ongoing campaign efforts by the Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum, urging multinational brands to contribute to the fund for the victims of the 24 April 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the holiday chocolate buying season moves into high gear in the United States, a report out today sheds light on the struggle of West African cocoa farmers to earn decent livelihoods, despite increasing demand for cocoa and higher prices. Approximately 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Two Years After Deadliest Fire in Bangladesh, C&A Foundation commits significant funds to full and fair compensation of victims; Still no commitment from Walmart, Sears, Disney

11/24/14

Two years after Bangladesh’s deadliest factory fire, IndustriALL Global Union, their Bangladeshi affiliates, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and C&A have reached an agreement on a system for delivering compensation to the injured workers and to the families of the workers killed in the disaster.

The government of Uzbekistan used systematic, mass forced labor in the 2014 cotton harvest, which has now concluded, the Cotton Campaign said today. In addition to coercing millions of people across the country to pick cotton, this forced labor system resulted in institutionalized harassment, extortion, and needless deaths.

Farmers’ union calls on leaders to help farmers grow more sustainable crops

10/10/14

A letter delivered to the Government of Malawi today calls on leaders to address child labor and modern-day slavery in Malawi’s tobacco industry. The letter calls on land reform and support for efforts to diversify crops to help lift Malawi’s 300,000 tenant farmer families out of poverty. The Tobacco and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOAWUM) sent the letter, with a coalition of labor, human rights, and health groups. The full letter can be downloaded below.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports forced labor and child labor remained entrenched in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector in 2013

10/08/14

(Washington) 8 October 2014: The U.S. Department of Labor concluded the Government of Uzbekistan maintained its system of forced labor of children and adults in the cotton sector, in its report 2013 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, released yesterday.

Protestors call on government to stop using education system as source of modern-day slavery

09/26/14

October 1 is National Teacher’s Day in Uzbekistan, but many classrooms will be empty as teachers and, in some cases, their students are sent to the fields to harvest cotton. The government of Uzbekistan, as the sole organizer and beneficiary of this forced-labor cotton harvest, could return them to classrooms where they belong.

Today the Government of Uzbekistan declared the start of the annual cotton harvest. To meet the government’s national quota officials are again this year forcing farmers to fulfill state-established production quotas and forcing children and adults to pick cotton under threat of punishment. Income from Uzbek cotton sales will again disappear into the extra-budgetary Agriculture Fund, to which not even the Uzbek parliament has access. This is modern-day slavery that only the Uzbek government can end by finding the political will to do so.